The present invention relates to a waiting and boarding-disembarking station for urban public transport.
People who wish to board an urban public transport vehicle are compelled to await its arrival at any one of the various stops along its itinerary. Some of these boarding and disembarking points have been designed as waiting stations for the comfort of the prospective passengers.
Various types of waiting stations that can be placed along the route of urban public transport systems are known in the art. They generally take the form of a parallepiped shelter with an open front offering the waiting passengers protection from the weather. Shelters such as this have been disclosed in patent application Ser. Nos. FR 2,720,431, FR 2,720,432, FR 2,727,444, and FR 2,727,445. This type of shelter may be closed only on the rear surface and one of its lateral surfaces, as with the shelter described in application FR 2,642,879, offering more limited protection for the waiting passengers.
Certain stations also incorporate seats or benches for longer waiting periods, or for tired or handicapped passengers. This is the case, for example, with the station described and shown in Patent FR. 2,727,945. However, these are not suitable for long waiting periods. Since the space inside the station is restricted, the passengers are constrained in an uncomfortable degree of closeness. In actuality, the seated waiting passengers and the passengers wishing to enter or leave the public transport vehicles are mutually inconvenienced.
The objective of the invention is to furnish a waiting and boarding-disembarking station with optimal interior space that is divided into one or more long-term waiting zones and a transit zone for rapid access to the public transport vehicle. This improves passengers"" comfort and disposition and allows them to stay out of one another""s way.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a waiting and boarding-disembarking station offering travelers better protection against the weather while they wait inside the station and until they enter the public transportation vehicle.
With conventional waiting stations, there is very limited protection for passengers against wind and precipitation; in fact, passengers are completely exposed to weather while they are in the area between the shelter and the public transport vehicle when boarding and disembarking.
The waiting and boarding-disembarking station according to the invention comprises a covered structure extending from the roof of the station and overhanging the doorway of the public transport vehicle to form a boarding and disembarking threshold that is protected from the elements.
In addition, the passengers in the long-term waiting are better protected, since the station is better insulated than a conventional shelter.
Conventional stations, which have open fronts, are set back from the edge of the sidewalk to leave a safety zone between the street and the travelers waiting in the station. The free space remaining between the rear of the station and the entryways to houses and buildings, designed for pedestrian traffic, is therefore considerably smaller.
A problem arises in narrow streets where the shelters and conventional stations pose obstacles to pedestrians, who have difficulty finding a path through the often restricted space behind the rear of the station. Some pedestrians decide to detour around the front of the station if there is an object or heavy pedestrian traffic in the narrow passageway. These pedestrians, who are either foolhardy or oblivious, not only expose themselves to a potentially fatal accident, but also disturb the waiting passengers.
Unlike conventional stations and shelters, the waiting station of the invention may be placed right at the edge of the track used by the public transport vehicle. Therefore, a maximum amount of space remains behind it for pedestrians. The travelers waiting inside the stations are completely protected from traffic hazards by a protective wall blocking the front surface of the station facing the street. This wall also prevents passengers from straying too close to the track reserved for the public transport vehicles. The travelers waiting inside the station can no longer walk in the street to access the vehicle. They are compelled to use the boarding-disembarking threshold. In the same way, the people arriving from the sidewalk for immediate boarding and the people disembarking from the public transport vehicle are strongly encouraged to pass through the station by taking the walkway connecting the threshold with the entryway to the station, and they can only walk on the street with difficulty. Therefore, passenger safety is improved considerably.
The present invention, moreover, discloses an embodiment particularly well suited for narrow sidewalks or sidewalks often frequented by pedestrians. According to this embodiment, the station comprises an opening in the rear and/or on one or more of its lateral surfaces for pedestrians to enter the station and pass through without exposure to traffic hazards. Because of the structure and the improved design of the station according to the invention, the travelers waiting inside this embodiment remain protected from the weather and are not disturbed by the passing pedestrians despite these entryways.
To overcome these technical problems, the waiting and boarding-disembarking station of the invention is placed right at the edge of the street. It has a protective wall in the front to protect travelers and prevent them from stepping onto the street. Its interior space is preferably divided into a long-term waiting area surrounded by walls on three sides and with an entryway that opens to the interior of the station rather than onto the street, and a short-term waiting area comprising an entryway to the station and a boarding or disembarking threshold providing protected access to the urban transport vehicle.
The long-term waiting area is particularly well protected in order to insulate the waiting passengers from cold, wind, and inclement weather, as well as from city noise. It also protects them from splashing and traffic hazards. This area is arranged to make the wait more pleasant for travelers. Therefore, it might include individuals seats, benches, back supports, tables, an information display, etc.
The short-term waiting area, designed to accommodate passengers ready to embark, contains fewer items. It has no seats, but it may have back supports or rails and restraining devices, such as hand rails. Wheelchairs, strollers, baby carriages, and the like can be easily maneuvered for boarding or are disembarking from the public transportation vehicle without bumping into the passengers seated in the long-term waiting area or disturbing them.
The short-term waiting area is preferably followed by an intermediate space or an threshold for access to the door of the public transportation vehicle protected by a canopy structure extending from the station roof which shelters the passengers until they enter the vehicle or conversely, from the time they exit the vehicle until they enter the station.
The waiting station of the invention is also modular. One or more long-term or short-term waiting areas can be added, comprising one or more vehicle access thresholds. Thus, the station might have one threshold for each of the vehicle doors. The station can also be modified transversely and it might comprise an access threshold on each side of the station so a passenger can elect to board any one of several public transportation vehicles traveling in the opposite direction or to transfer to different lines.